The Ties That Bind
by lilian.wyler
Summary: In the aftermath of her switching off her humanity days, Caroline finds herself struggling with guilt and anger. And mostly, with loss. In an attempt to help, Enzo reaches out to Joyce Summers, Caroline's aunt, who decides to take the girl in. What happens when her world clashes with Buffy's? When Elena decides to move into Sunnydale? (TVD season 6, Buffy season 5 post-musical ep.)


Caroline waited until Bonnie and Elena were asleep to sneak out into the dark night. She walked around campus feeling the weight of her doings on her shoulders, the guilt, added to the pain of losing her mother, was almost too much, but she couldn't do anything other than feel it. She'd never switch off her humanity again.

A part of her felt anger towards her friends – a smaller part, since she mostly felt gratitude for them sticking to her side after all that happened, specially Elena, who had all the reasons in the world to hate her. Still, the anger was there: if they had let her be for one year, she'd switch it on again and be ok. Sad, but ok. She wouldn't feed and kill people, she was overly controlled over herself, and for that she felt kind of proud.

Until she decided to be too smart and get Stefan to switch it off, because that's when things went downhill.

She stopped walking nearby the lake and sat down under a tree, resting her back against it and allowing the tears to fall. She'd been doing that for the past three weeks, ever since she returned to her humanity sides. She lifted her head when someone approached her.

"Lost in self pity again?" Enzo's british accent reached her ears and she closed her eyes, counting down to ten to keep her patience. "You're miserable, love."

"Don't call me that." She demanded, looking at him, the words making her think of someone else. She had actually considered going away to New Orleans, but a phone call to Elijah made her change her mind: they wanted nothing to do with Mystic Falls or the people they met there, according to what Rebekah was saying in the background.

He threw a piece of paper at her and she caught it by reflex, not looking at it, instead waiting for an explanation.

"You saved my life, now we're even." He said, before disappearing. Confused, she glanced down the paper and read an address, a name and a phone number written on it. She recognized the name and smiled.

She still had one relative alive and willing to take care of her – not that she needed it, but she could use some family member that could mourn her mother with her. She could also use a change of scenario.

With her head feeling slightly lighter, she stood up and ran to the dorms to give her friends the incoming news.

"You are going to do what?" Bonnie asked for the tenth time.

"Move out, Bonnie. Oh my god, are you deaf now?" Caroline asked impatiently, finishing her packing. "I promise I won't turn my switch off, and I won't cause any trouble. I'm joining the Sunnydale University and majoring on Media Production and Broadcasting, while living with my cousin and her family there. I need a change in my life, I can't live here. Not now."

"Care, you can get through it with us. You don't have to move out halfway across the country. Tell her, Elena!" Bonnie turned to Elena in a desperate attempt to see her best friend folding Caroline's clothes and putting them on a second suitcase. Caroline smiled when she noticed it.

"I get it." Elena said, surprising Bonnie. She smiled at Caroline. "I wanted to move out when everyone died, too. I get it." She repeated it reassuringly. "I have a cousin who recently moved to Sunnydale too, maybe you two will meet."

"You should come." Caroline surprised Elena by saying it, and suddenly her face lighten up. "We all should go! You could live with your cousin or we could live together on campus there instead of here. We could use some time away from this place, couldn't we? Come on, Elena, you know I'm right! None of us have any family left here. Our friends can come and visit. It's not like we see Matt all that often and I bet he'll be glad to see the vampires moving out of town."

"I don't think we are the vampires Matt has a problem with." Elena remarked.

"But Damon, Stefan and Enzo are and they will follow us. Well, Damon and Stefan will follow you, Enzo will follow the two of them and I think Lily would come after her sons. Basically, we'd do the humans around here a huge favor by leaving."

"What about Alaric?" Bonnie tried.

"Ric has his own family to take care of." Elena said before Caroline had to. "Which would be easier if we were gone. Alright, Care, you win. I'm in if you want it."

Caroline hugged her best friend, exhilarating, and Bonnie, after a while, decided to join in too. The three of them packed up their things and charged Elena and Caroline's cars. Bonnie and Caroline would drive straight to Sunnydale. Elena would step by the Salvatore House to tell them their news.

She stopped by the manor with a tinge of fear, trying to imagine Damon's reaction to the sudden change in their lives. She knew he was dealing with a lot between his brother – humanity on, good sense off – and his crazy ripper mother that Elena helped bring back from the prision world – where now they were trying to find a way back in so they could either throw her back or release her so called friends.

Another reason why they should leave, Elena thought.

Damon opened the door before she had to knock, almost bumping on her and throwing her to the ground. Her speed was the only thing that kept her from falling, and he frowned when he saw her.

"It's three in the morning." He stated, checking his phone, his eyes looking tired but wary. "What the hell are you doing here at three in the morning?"

She raised an eyebrow – or tried to, he was the one good at it.

"You're telling me we were in love and dating but I never found a reason to visit you at three in the morning?" She teased him and his expression softened a little, but not enough. Well, she did like his dangerous air, but the way he seemed worried bothered her. "We need to talk."

"Don't tell me that Barbie is off again." He begged.

"Caroline's fine." Elena said, laughing. "In fact, she and Bonnie are on their way to California right now."

He stopped and turned, finally taking in her car and the fact that there was a suitcase on the backseat. He narrowed his eyes.

"What are you up to now?" He asked her, and she hesitated, giving him a joyful smile to compensate for her nervous next words:

"We're moving out of Mystic Falls to Sunnydale, California. As in, right now." She said, and backed away when he dropped the small bag he'd been carrying. "What is that?" She asked, seeing a music box falling from the bag and start playing. The song was beautiful and soothing. She knelt down to get it and Damon quickly took it from her and shut it, stopping the song.

"You're doing what?" He asked, now staring at her alarmed. "Are you insane?"

"Just hear me out, ok?" She asked, ignoring the music box. She told him about Caroline's decision and used the same arguments Caroline used to convince her, but it turned out Damon's mind wasn't so easy to change. He was still mad and completely against it when she finished.

"Who's going to help you out when one of you gets in a major problem?" He defied her.

"We can take care of ourselves, Damon. We have while you were dead." She said and immediately regretted it when she saw the hurt in his eyes. "I'm sorry." She quickly added. "But I've wanted to move out of town ever since Jenna's death. After everything else, I just couldn't because problems kept getting in our way. Now we can, Damon, and maybe you've had enough of the world to settle down here, but I haven't, and neither have Caroline. We're still young you know."

"You're set on it aren't you?" He asked, his look terrified, his voice sad, and she slowly nodded. He took a deep breath. "Well then, I don't want to hold you back."

"Caroline said you'd come with us. You and Stefan." She said hopefully, but the look in his eyes quickly took that hope away. She fought the tears that started coming, and leaned in to kiss him.

He kissed her back slowly, as sad as she was – as much as she didn't remember, those last few days had been enough for her attraction towards him to grow, while she learned to see the good in him. She wished she could remember the old days, but that was impossible, so she stopped thinking about it all the time.

"Good luck with your mother." Elena said, after they stopped the kiss. "Goodbye, Damon."

She turned around and got into her car, driving in a really high speed, wishing more than anything that her life wasn't so full of baggage and that she could be the happy free teenager Damon met on a empty road in a dark night. She realized then that everything he wished she'd have – a life full of mystery, adventure, and even a little danger – came true, and if that life turned to be a good one, if the danger was bearable, it was because he was there.

He and Stefan, but her feelings for Stefan were something she'd never be able to act upon anymore, simply because she was supposed to have moved on from him when she moved towards Damon. No one, not even Stefan himself, realized what forgetting Damon would do to her, how it would make her see Stefan as the only love in her life again.

She waved those thoughts away and kept driving.


End file.
